There is described in British Patent Specification No. 1,117,751 the production of thermally adhesive webs comprising a tissue of randomly arranged fusible filaments. The webs are useful as thermal adhesives in various textile and interlining applications. They are lightweight webs, typically weighing from 20 to 50 g/m.sup.2. Because the webs are so thin and light they have rather low tensile strength. It is often desired to use the web in the form of a tape but because of the low tensile strength, and because of difficulties in handling the tape, especially using high speed mechanical handling apparatus, it is necessary to ensure that the tape is not too narrow, as otherwise it will break during handling. Typically the minimum width is 13 mm or more.
Despite these difficulties the thermally adhesive webs have been widely used and have come to be recognized as important materials.